At the Unison Black Members Conference (Photo: X/ @UnisonSCH1)
Around 90 activists met last Wednesday to discuss how to take climate action in unions and workplaces.
As temperature rises hit new records, Labour is pushing ahead with airport expansion and fossil fuel extraction. It’s trying to buy the support of workers with the false promise of jobs and economic growth. Some unions, such as Unite, are backing Labour on this.
The TUC union federation voted last year to launch a year of trade union climate action. The NEU union has backed it, with others looking to follow suit. But it will take a grassroots mobilisation to turn words into meaningful action.
NEU rep Suzanne Jeffery, chair of the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group, said, “The climate issue has unfortunately been framed as ‘jobs versus the environment’.
“It has meant that in the trade union movement the focus has often been on groups of people in carbon heavy industries and what will happen to their jobs.
“The climate crisis is not simply an issue for a section of the trade union movement. The climate crisis is a working class issue. It affects us all.”
John Witcher from the GMB and Fuel Poverty Action said, “My union hasn’t got a great track record on climate.
“But it hasn’t been explained to people that we are not talking about polar bears. We are talking about food and energy prices going up and extreme weather.”
Liz from Unison said that people will see their working conditions worsen with climate change so it is an issue for workplace reps to organise around. But a trade union should be part of a movement that wants “not just a better workplace, but also a better world”.
Emma, an NEU member, suggested that striking teachers could organise days of action around the climate.
Activists in the trade union movement will continue to meet to plan action to develop a year of trade union action beyond the Cop talks.
The Unison National Black Members’ Conference took place this weekend in Brighton.
General secretary Christina McAnea highlighted the unique challenges faced by black workers, saying that the ethnicity pay gap was “a blatant reflection of racial inequality”. She also noted that it is migrant workers that stop the care sector from collapsing.
Unison says it will continue to fight for migrant workers’ right in the face of Labour’s crackdown on migration and challenge unjust immigration fees and rules.
With the rise of Reform UK, McAnea called on members to argue that it is not a party for working class people. A large proportion of the conference was dedicated to talking about what Reform UK’s recent electoral success will mean for local councils.
Newly appointed Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns said she wanted a “leaner workforce”. But after 14 years of Tory austerity, there is little left to cut.
McAnea acknowledged that since last year there had been a rise in the number of hate crimes and racism in workplaces. And that the escalation in far right violence had to be fought with “all our might”.
Unison reiterated its commitment to eradicating workplace discrimination and implementing the changes outlined in its own race discrimination inquiry that it published last year.
In Merthyr, South Wales, over 55 people gathered to create a new left wing “movement for people, peace and planet” last Saturday.
They keynote speaker was Beth Winter, former Labour MP for Cynon Valley. She said she’s been taken aback about how bad the Labour government has been.
“They have done everything then can to not get re-elected and have helped to pave the way for something worse.”
To the disappointment of many, Winter seemed to indicate she was not going to stand as an independent socialist in the Welsh Senedd elections next year.
Instead, she talked about turning disillusion in to positivity by working with “eons of community groups”.
The emphasis on community politics was supported by a group of young people organised around “socialist underground network” activist group.
A couple of speakers from the floor said there was no movement of note in Wales. Hussein from the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) pointed to the Palestine solidarity movement. The key, he argued, was to increase resistance and bring different parts of the movement together.
Adam from Cardiff called on the participants to increase their action against benefit cuts. Kwabena spoke from the platform for Stand Up To Racism Cardiff. She argued that anti-racism had to be at the heart of any movement and that the fight against Reform UK was central.
There were mixed feelings about the forthcoming Senedd elections. Some felt that a left challenge was needed, but others felt the movement should be built first.
Plaid Cymru and the Greens say they can provide this voice. But this is not the case.
Everyone on the left should get behind candidates who will use the election to increase and promote resistance. The left could run an insurgent campaign.
Martin Chapman
New report demolishes fossil fuel industry lies
Thousands of residents in London have been without water for months
The climate crisis is impossible to ignore
